Canon City News

Over The River, envisioned in 1992, put to an end earlier this year

Christo and Jeanne-Claude during the life-size test for Over The River in 1999. (Wolfgang Volz / Special to the Daily Record)

Click photo to enlarge

Members of the Over The River opposition group, Rags Over the Arkansas River, Dan Ainsworth, Cathey Young and Janice Yalch, present a plaque of appreciation to Sheriff Jim Beicker on Tuesday for his support in speaking out against the project.

Christo and his late wife Jeanne-Claude spent more than 40 years creating works of art around the world. Previous works include Wrapped Reichstag in Berlin (1995) and The Gates, Central Park, New York City (2005). The Wrapped Reichstag generated about $700 million in additional tourist spending in Berlin. The Gates attracted an estimated 4 million visitors, generating more than $250 million in economic activity.

"Over The River" — the industrial-size temporary work of art project proposed by internationally acclaimed artist Christo — was more than 20 years in the making, but it came to an abrupt end when he closed the door on it in January.

After more than two decades of planning, millions of dollars already invested, five years of legal battles and several heated public meetings, the artist made the announcement via a press release emailed to media outlets January 25.

The release stated Christo no longer wished to wait on the outcome of one final legal battle against the project, but a New York Times article released the same day said the reason Christo canceled was to protest the country's new president, Donald Trump,who was inaugurated just days before.

Throughout the process, members of the OTR opposition group, Rags Over the Arkansas River, never gave up its fight to put a stop to the project.

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"We lost the battles, but we won the war," said Dan Ainsworth, a member of ROAR. "If you would have asked a million people when this started, what chance does ROAR have in stopping Christo, not one person would have said we'd win, but we never once said, 'We will not win.' We always said we will win, we will beat Christo."

ROAR presented a plaque of appreciation to Fremont County Sheriff Jim Beicker on Tuesday for his support in speaking out against the project.

"He was really the only public official that was really concerned about the safety of all of us who live in the canyon, as well as those who would be traveling through the canyon," said Janice Yalch, a founding member of ROAR. "With all of the terrorist attacks that have been going on, I think that's even more important today than it was a few years ago — that is a closed-in canyon — one way in, one way out, all you have to do is close both ends and you've got everyone trapped."

More than 344,000 people were expected to visit the area during the 14-day exhibition period which had yet to be determined.

Yalch said she also appreciated Beicker looking at safety, rather than "dollar signs."

"(Beicker) is the only one who has spoken out for the safety and welfare of the people in the community," said Cathey Young, also a founding ROAR member. "All the other local, state and national officials said this would be a fabulous thing, it would bring so much money — it was all about money."

The members of ROAR say they are pleased that they have outlasted Christo's efforts.

"(Beicker) was the only public official at the permitting time that was against it and stood face to face against Christo and told him he couldn't protect him, and he couldn't protect his people," said Dan Ainsworth. "Christo said he'd provide his own police force, but the sheriff told him, 'Not in my county you won't.'"

Beicker said he was honored to be recognized by ROAR, but his effort was a small part of the group's overall effort, and he commended ROAR for their perseverance.

However, it was the sheriff's courage that gave ROAR a backbone, Young said.

"My concern was always public safety," Beicker said.

Beicker said the OTR process had gone on so long that it didn't seem real when he heard it officially was over.

"That's a tremendous amount of time to go by that we always felt like were hanging on the edge of whether or not the project was going to go forward," Beicker said. "I would never argue that his project was art, and art is in the eye of the beholder, but it was imposed art on people that I didn't feel could be done safely and responsibly."

He said he knew his stance was an unpopular one to a lot of people, especially to most of the business community and other city and county officials.

"But I didn't take the job of sheriff to be politically correct, I took it to protect people in our county," Beicker said. "It wasn't about politics or being popular."

People had told him that he was risking missing out on a great deal of tax revenue that would be generated by the project.

The projected economic output generated by OTR in Colorado was more than $121 million; total state and local tax revenue was expected to be $1.58 million; the local sales tax revenue expected to be generated in Fremont and Chaffee counties was $583,000; and the number of temporary jobs expected to be created by OTR was more than 620.

"I told them it's not about that," Beicker said. "There is no amount of money that is worth jeopardizing people's lives. I know it wasn't popular, but it was the right thing to do."

A Vision is Born

Over The River was envisioned in 1992 when Christo and Jeanne-Claude were working on the Wrapped Reichstag, or Project for West Berlin.

The artists' vision for OTR included 5.9 miles of silvery, luminous fabric panels to be suspended high above the Arkansas River in eight distinct areas along a 42-mile stretch between Cañon City and Salida.

In August 1992, 1993 and 1994, in search of a site for the project, Christo and Jeanne-Claude and their team traveled 14,000 miles. On those trips, the team prospected 89 rivers, in seven states, and six possible locations were found. After visiting the six sites again in the summer of 1996, the Arkansas River was selected.

It was the artists' vision that from the water level, rafters, kayakers and canoeists on the river would view the sky and mountain skyline through the fabric.

The costs associated with the permitting process, manufacturing, installation and removal fully would be paid for through the sale of Christo's original works of art. The cost of OTR was expected to be about $50 million.

The project was to be paid for without public subsidy or taxpayer support, and the artists would not accept viewing fees, sponsorships or outside investments of any kind.

The Permitting Process

Following nearly three years of analysis, the Bureau of Land Management in November 2011 issued the Record of Decision, following the earlier issuance of the Final Environmental Impact Statement.

The EIS, the first-ever completed for a work of art, began in the spring of 2009 and resulted in a 1,686 page comprehensive analysis.

The ROD gave final approval to the artists' vision of the project and also identified more than 100 measures to mitigate impacts identified in the EIS, including traffic, safety and wildlife. The ROD was the final step in the comprehensive environmental review process.

Three public meetings were conducted during the initial scoping process in 2006, which generated more than 1,100 comments. Four public meetings were held shortly after the release of the draft EIS in July 2010. The BLM received more than 4,500 comments.

Approvals already had been obtained from the Colorado State Parks Board and the Colorado State Land Board.

The Fremont County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to approve a Temporary Use Permit for OTR in March 2012.

Following the public hearing, former Commissioner Ed Norden said during his seven years as a commissioner, no single issue had generated more passion from both supporters and opponents than the OTR project. After listening to nine hours of public testimony and reading all 833 written comments, he explained his decision to support the OTR permit.

"The record shows support of probably 80 to 90 percent of business people from Florence, Cañon City, 8-Mile Hill, Cotopaxi, Texas Creek, Coaldale and Howard," he said. "Given the economic conditions that Fremont County faces, the opportunities for businesses to not only thrive, but in some cases to simply survive, is what convinced me to support the project."

In February 2012, law students from the University of Denver filed suit against the BLM on behalf of ROAR over environmental and traffic worries, which delayed the start of the project.

Controversy

Christo received all federal, state and local permits necessary to realize OTR in 2011. In 2012, ROAR filed lawsuits against Colorado State Parks in State Court and against the United States Federal Government, BLM, in U.S. Federal Court.

Since the beginning, ROAR expressed concern for the disruption of wildlife, increased travel and commute times, destruction of the environment, impeded response by police, fire and ambulance service, a disruption to tourism-related activity, increased danger for multiple casualty accidents and garbage and human waste left by crowds of onlookers.

Supporters of OTR included the Colorado Governor's Office, several local state and federal organizations, and John Scalzo, the former mayor of Rifle, where Christo and Jeanne-Claude's "Valley Curtain" was displayed for 28 hours in 1972.

The End

Throughout the OTR planning process, and during several interviews, Christo has told the Daily Record that he was confident OTR would be realized once all legal hurdles had been met. Even should he die before then, Christo said, provisions were in place for the project to move forward.

His statement released in January, however, closed the door on the project forever.

"After pursuing Over The River, for 20 years and going through five years of legal arguments, I no longer wish to wait on the outcome," he said. "I have decided to devote all of my energy, time and resources into the realization of The Mastaba, Project for Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, which Jeanne-Claude and I conceived 40 years ago.

"I have been fortunate to work with many dedicated Colorado residents as well as Federal and State agencies who have been a part of Over The River. I am grateful to everyone who was part of this journey."

While Fremont County never will see OTR realized — it won't be seen from the river below, from helicopter above, or from the highway at eye level — Christo in previous interviews with the Daily Record has said all the years of meetings, discussion, controversy and planning, all of that was part of the art project itself.

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